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Published every Thursday by the Franklin Press
At Franklin, North Carolina
*-*ii Number forty-four
"VEIMAR JONES i . Editor-Publisher
Entered at the Post Office, Franklin. N C.. as second class matter
Telephone No. 24
A. B. C. A Solution?
A I.I. Western North Carolina will watch with
interest Asheville's election next Tuesday on
the question of A. B. C. (Alcoholic Beverage Con
trol) stores, because the problem facing the people
of Asheville is the problem of every community in
this region.
From this distance, it seems a reasonably safe bet
that the city-owned, state-supervised liquor store
system will be approved by Asheville voters; not
iK'cause the majority of Asheville voters necessarily
are convinced that A. B. C. stores are desirable,
but because they are disgusted with the present
situation.
If Asheville does go "wet", it probably will be"
because the moderate ffroup that holds the balance
of power feels that the A. B. C. system is the lesser
of two evils; that prohibition not only has failed,
but that the prohibition law cannot be enforced.
And yet, if those persons who feel that way
would examine the facts, they almost certainly
would have to admit that they do not know wheth
er the prohibition law can be enforced or not; they
do not know for the very good reason, that during
the past 20 years or longer, nobody in Asheville
reallv has tried to enforce it.
* * *
That is a fair sample of how hard it is for most
persons to think clearly and honestly on this ques
tion of liquor.
Another example is the way most of us accept
without question the oft-repeated assertion that
more liquor is sold and drunk in the so-called "dry"
areas than in the "wet". We have heard that state
ment made so often anil so emphatically, as though
it were an indisputable fact, that we assume it is
true. It may he. But again nobody knows; for,
since there is no way whatever of determining how
much liquor is sold and drunk where liquor sales
are illegal, it is impossible to know whether the
amount sold is more or less in the dry territory.
Still another example of our loose thinking is
the assumption that prohibition has been a com
plete failure, everywhere, from the start. As a mat
ter of fact, there is considerable evidence that, in
the early days of state prohibition, the liquor situ
ation was better handled in North Carolina than it
ever has been, before or since. There was some
drinking, of course ; but it was done by a minority
group, and it was not generally considered respect
able t<. drink; today drinking is done openly,
whether the liquor be bought at an A. B. C. store
or from a bootlegger.
The reason state prohibition worked fairly well
lies, of course, in the fact that the question was
submitted to, the voters of the whole state, and the
prohibition law represented the will of the majority,
National prohibition, on the other hand, failed ?
and failing, brought all prohibition into disrepute.
And the people who are to blame for its failure are
the rabid drys ; they were so sure of the righteous"
ness of their crusade that they forced probihition
on large areas where it did not represent the will
of the majority. The result was a foregone con
clusion.
Again, we have been told many times that the
gangster era was a direct result of prohibition. It is
true, of course, that prohibition ? plus the situation
existing at that time ? offered the gangster a mar
velous opportunity. But the gangster was the off
spring of the times, of an almost nation-wide dis
respect for law and of an all-time low in public
morals ; he would have arisen and flourished with
or without prohibition. Without the opportunity
of bootlegging liquor, he would have turned to nar
cotics and vice. Millions, in fact, were made by the
gangsters in the two latter rackets ? yet nobody
suggested repeal of the prohibition against the
general sale of drugs!
And perhaps even more inconsistencies could be
cited in the arguments of the drys. ?
* * *
There arc at least three schools of thought on
the subject of alcoholic beverages. There are those
who say quite frankly that alcohol is desirable in
any civilized community, and that those who can
use it in moderation should not be deprived of it
because others abuse it; that, used in moderation,
it is a blessing. '
There are others vvhrt say that an occasional
drunk is less harmful to the human body than con
sistent though moderate drinking; and that an oc
casional drunk is a good way for a man to let off
steam, to lessen the tensions of today's complicated
living.
There is a third group? and ftlmoit certainly U
is the majority group ? that holds that, all things
considered, alcohol as a beverage is an evil; that
the less the drinking, the better off society will be,
and that the use ot alcohol should be discouraged
and lessened if possible; but that a large number of
people are going to drink, whether or no, and that
the whole question is how best to control it. It is
among this group that the A. B. C. system has its
strongest advocates.
? * *
If this l^st group makes up the majority, and if
the majority is right, then debating over methods
of control ? whether that control is to be by pro
bition or under the A. B. C. or a similar system ? is
mere temporizing. For any real solution must lie
in the adoption of measures that will discourage
drinking and tend to lessen it. In other words, to
get at the root of the problem, people's thinking on
the subject of drinking must be changed. The ques
tion, then, is one of education;
But what is the situation in the United States
today? Private industry is legally permitted to
manufacture alcoholic beverages; and it is only
natural? especially in a nation where mass produc
tion is almost a national motto ? for the manufac
turer to do everything possible to spread and in
crease the use of alcohol ; exactly as the cigarette
manufacturers, by advertising and other means,
have made cigarette smoking almost Universal in
this country. It would be unreasonable to say to a
manufacturer that he may make a product, and
that his profits will be governed by the amount
sold, and expect him not to try to increase his sales.
Nor does private industry alone profit from liquor
sales. Taxes on liquor are a big item in the budget
of the national government.
And perhaps the greatest weakness in the A. B. C.
system is the fact that it injects the profit motive
into local control. It is true that the A. B. C. stores
do not advertise and they probably do not con
sciously seek to increase drinking; but it is also
true that any agency of government comes to de~
pend upon a source of revenue, and once it is ac
customed to having that revenue, is slow indeed to
abandon the system that provides it in favor of an
other system, no matter how much better, if the
change would mean a loss in revenue. Older per
sons will remember the argument of honest, intelli
gent citizens, in the days when North Carolina had
a dispensary system, that the state could not afford
to try prohibition, no matter how promising the ex
periment seemed, because we had to have the dis
pensary revenue in order to operate our schools.
To make any real progress, we must get rid of
the profit motive, public and private.
* :k *
Assuming that the lessening of drinking is the
major aim; assuming that the elimination of the
bootlegger is a secondary. but important objective;
and assuming that one reason for the failure of
prohibition is the human trait of demanding what
is forbidden and hard to get ? assuming these things,
why do we not work out a system that would:
Make alcholic beverages available with the very
minimum of restrictions.
Eliminate the profit motive on the part of private
industry by making liquor manufacture a govern
ment 'monopoly.
Eliminate the profit motive on the part of the
federal government by having it pass on the alco
holics it manufactures, without tax or profit, to
publicly-owned retail establishments. That would
enable the retail store to sell as cheaply as the
bootlegger and thus remove the cause or illegal
sales.
Finally, provide that all profits from operation of
the retail stores should go into a fund to be used
exclusively in two ways: First, for research, under
government auspices, by reputable scientists, to
determine the effect of alcohol on the human body,
mind, and character ; and, second, to teach in the
public schools exactly what this scientific research
shows.
... LETTERS ...
SUGGESTS SCHOOL NAME
Editor of The Press:
I notice with much Interest the request of the Board of
Education for a name for the Franklin school. Macon County
needs a strong central high school. Therefore, In response to
their request, I would suggest that they name the present
Franklin school "The Macon County Central High School",
and If so named that the people of Macon County will strive
to make it worthy of the needs of Macon County.
Yours for better schools.
Flats, N. C. WEIMER COCHRAN
Oct. 20, 1947.
'NEW AREA SCHOOL'
Dear Mr. Jones:
I notice in your letter column suggestions on naming the
Franklin school.
As the children are taken by bus from different areas all
over the county, I suggest naming it "New Area 8chool", which
would be Macon County's (new area) school.
I wonder how many of our school children and older people
would like this name.
Sincerely yours,
Franklin, Route 1, E. A. ROPER
October 23, 1947.
The art of conversation is the art of hearing as well aa of
being heard.? Hazlltt.
He make* no friend who never made a foe.? Tennyeon, i
LEGAL ADVERTISING
IN THE SUPERIOR COURT
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA
MACON COUNTY
FREDRICK E. STILLWELL
VS.
ESTELLE STILLWELL
The defendant, Estelle Still
well, will take notice that an ac
tion as above entitled has been
commenced in the Superioi
Court of Macon County, North
Carolina, for the purpose of ob
taining an absolute divorce on
the part of the plaintiff from
the defendant, on the grounds
of two years separation; and the
defendant will further take no
tice that she is required to ap
pear at the office of the Clerk
of the Superior Court of said !
County in the Courthouse in
Franklin, North Carolina, on
the 22nd day of November, 1947,
and answer or demur to ths
complaint in said action, or the
plaintiff will apply to the Court
for the relief demanded in said
complaint.
This the 2nd day of October
1947
J. CLINTON BROOKSHIRE,
Clerk Superior Court.
030 ? 4tcB ? N20
IN THE 5Ut*KKll>K COURT
NOTICE OF PUBLICATION
OF SUMMONS
NORTH CAROLINA
MACON COUNTY
CHARLIE WILLIAM PAUL
. VS.
MARY JOYCE PAUL
The defendant, Mary Joyce
Paul, will take notice that an
action entitled as above has
been commenced in the Super
ior Court of Macon County, for
the purpose of securing an ab
solute divorce for the plaintiff,
Charlie William Paul.
Said defendant will further
take notice that she is required
to appear at the office of the
Clerk of Superior Court of Ma
con County, North Carolina, at
the Courthouse in Franklin,
North Carolina, on the 10th day of
November, 1947, and answer or
demur to the complaint in said
action, or the plaintiff will ap
ply to the Court for the relief
demanded in the complaint.
This 10th day of October, 1947.
CLINTON BROOKSHIRE,
Clerk of Superior Court
016 ? 4tc ? J&J ? NG
IN THE SUPERIOR COURT
NOTICE OF PUBLICATION OF
SUMMONS
NORTH CAROLINA
MACON COUNTY
ETHEL MARTIN
vs.
DAN MARTIN
The defendant, Dan Martin,
will take notice that an action
entitled as above has been com
menced in the Superior Court
of Macon County for the pur
pose of securing a divorce from
bed and board by the plaintiff,
Ethel Martin, and for the- pur
pose of securing the custody of
the infant child, John Martin.
Said defendant will further
take notice that he is required
to appear at the office of the
Clerk of Superior Court of Ma
con County, North Carolina, on
the 7th day of November, 1947,
and answer or demur to the
complaint in the said action- or
the plaintiff will apply to the
Court for the relief demanded in
said complaint.
The defendant will further
take notice that the plaintiff
will. In the December term, 1947,
request the Court to enter an
order awarding the custody of
John Martin to the plaintiff.
This the 3rd day of October,
1947.
J. CLINTON BROOKSHIRE,
Clerk of Superior Court,
Macon County, North Carolina
09? 4tc? 030
ADMINISTRATRIX NOTICE
Having qualified as adminis
tratrix of A. P. Brown, deceas
ed, late of Macon County, N. C..
this is to notify all persons hav
ing claims against the estate of
said deceased to exhibit them
to the undersigned on or be
fore the 25th day of September, i
1948 or this notice will be plead
In bar of their recovery. All
persons Indebted to said estate
will please make Immediate set
tlement.
This 25th day of September,
1947.
MRS. GRACE BROWN,
Administratrix.
02 ? 6tc ? N6
ADMINISTRATOR'S NOTICE
Having qualified as adminis
trator of Mrs. Emma Childers,
deceased, late of Macon County.
N. C., this is to notify all per
sons having claims against the
estate of said deceased to ex
hibit them to the undersigned
on or before the 13th day ol
September, 1948 or this notice
ylll be plead In bar of their re
covery. All persons indebted to
said estate will please make im
mediate settlement.
This 13th day of September,
1947.
J. R. CHILDERS,
Administrator
S25? 6t3c ? 030
ADMINISTRATORS NOTICE
Having qualified as adminis
trator of E. M. Fox, deceased,
late of Macon County, N. C? thlf
If to notify all persons having
claims agalnat the estate of
Mid decewed to rahlblt them |
to the undersigned on or before
the 20th day of October, 1948,
or this notice will be plead in
bar of their recovery. All per
sons indebted to said estate will
please make immediate settle
ment.
This 20th day of October, 1947.
FRED FOX ,
Administrator.
02a? 6ti>? N27
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